A color image watermarking scheme based on hybrid classification method: Particle swarm optimization and k-nearest neighbor algorithm

In this paper, a novel robust watermarking technique using particle swarm optimization and k-nearest neighbor algorithm is introduced to protect the intellectual property rights of color images in the spatial domain. In the embedding process, the color image is separated into non-overlapping blocks and each bit of the binary watermark is embedded into the individual blocks. Then, in order to extract the embedded watermark, features are obtained from watermark embedded blocks using the symmetric cross-shape kernel. These features are used to generate two centroids belonging to each binary (1 and 0) value of the watermark implementing particle swarm optimization. Subsequently, the embedded watermark is extracted by evaluating these centroids utilizing k-nearest neighbor algorithm. According to the test results, embedded watermark is extracted successfully even if the watermarked image is exposed to various image processing attacks.